SEATTLE -- When Seattles Justin Smoak hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning Tuesday night, the Kansas City Royals chances for a win and perhaps a post-season appearance were in big trouble. DeShone Kizer Packers Jersey . Smoak hit an 0-2 fastball from Bruce Chen (8-4) for his career-matching 19th home run and the Mariners went on to a 4-0 victory, creating a bleak playoff picture for the Royals. Time is running out -- just five games remaining -- much distance needs to be covered and two teams need to be hurdled. The Royals three competitors for the two AL wild-card spots -- Tampa Bay, Texas and Cleveland -- all won Tuesday. The Royals, down four games in the loss column to Cleveland, need to win every game and hope that both the Indians and the Rangers completely collapse. "We just go till they say we cant win it," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. "We go as hard as we can. Keep playing our best guys and staying after it." Mariners rookie left-hander James Paxton (3-0), making just his fourth major league start, worked a career-high seven innings, allowing four hits, walking none and striking out a career-high 10. "He looked real good. Big, tall kid, straight over the top, straight downhill action on all his pitches," Yost said. "Good fastball, I mean, over-powering fastball at times, got it up to 97, lot of life on it. But downhill pitches are tough to hit, especially fastballs. Good breaking stuff, good changeup, good curveball." Paxton said it didnt matter to him that the Royals had everything on the line. "I wasnt really paying attention to that. I was just focusing on executing pitches, one pitch at a time," he said. "It could be just the electricity. Being out there it just kind of raises your intensity up that much more. I think it helps me to get lock in." It was the 13th shutout for the Mariners and the ninth time the Royals have been shut out. Seattle touched Bruce Chen (8-4) for a run in the first when Brad Miller reached on an infield single followed by Abraham Almontes single to centre. Almonte has reached base in all his 18 games to start his career, 16 with a hit. With one out, Kendrys Morales singled to left, driving in Miller. Chen worked five innings, allowing seven hits and four runs. He walked three and struck out five. The Royals could not respond against Paxton. They put together two singles in the first inning but a double play eased him out of trouble. He didnt allow more than one baserunner in any inning after that and at one point he retired 12 straight. "That guy has a good fastball, slider, change," Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar said. "He got a lot of balls down, run in on the black. Great job for him today. Hes sneaky." The Mariners blew the game open in the fifth with three runs -- all with two outs. Morales, who had three hits, doubled to deep centre. Franklin Gutierrez walked and Smoak hit a 0-2 fastball over the wall in left field. "I tried to go up with the fastball and he made good contact," Chen said. "I was ahead in the count. I did not pitch right down the middle. It wasnt a strike. I tried to go up the ladder and he would chase it and keep my team in the ball game. (But) he got it. "I was just trying to do everything I could to help this team win. At that point it was a 1-0 game. That Paxton did a real good job. It unfortunate because today was a really big game for us." Smoak has 19 home runs but it was just his second right-handed. The other was Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels. "I hit it. I dont know if I looked straight into the lights or whatever but I didnt know where it went," Smoak said. "To be able to barrel one up, knowing the work Ive put in the last couple weeks, it is starting to show." The Royals play one more game with Seattle on Wednesday night, then close the season at the Chicago White Sox. "Were not quitting. Were not giving up," Chen said. "As long as we got a chance were going to give it everything we can. Today was big game for us unfortunately. But thats not going to stop us tomorrow." NOTES: Mariners LHP Danny Hultzen, the second player taken in the 2011 draft, has a problem with his left shoulder and will see Dr. James Andrews on Monday. "Ed (team doctor Ed Khalfayan) saw him and, quite frankly, doesnt like what he sees," GM Jack Zduriencik said. "He saw some damage that he was unhappy with. Its in the shoulder but not in the rotator cuff, more tendon area, labrum." . The club confirmed Zduriencik will return in 2014. . The Royals need one more win to match their win total from 1993 (84-78). ... Royals 1B Eric Hosmer had two hits, his ninth multi-hit game in September. He leads the AL with 59. Jaire Alexander Packers Jersey . Thats the feeling that eight Canadian Football League teams are experiencing right now in advance of the expansion draft to stock the Ottawa Redblacks. Custom Packers Jerseys . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. http://www.shoptheofficialpackers.com/Elite-Jaire-Alexander-Packers-Jersey/ . Salah, who scored against Chelsea in two Champions League group matches this season, is Jose Mourinhos third significant recruit in the January transfer window after Nemanja Matic and Bertrand Traore.OAKLAND, Calif. -- Derek Norris wasnt too surprised to hit a three-run home run on a 3-0 count in the first inning. The Athletics catcher was only mildly shocked when he did the same thing the next inning, in nearly the exact same situation with the same count and on the same pitch. Norris hit a pair of three-run home runs off Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez to back Scott Kazmirs fifth win and Oakland beat Washington 9-1 on Sunday to complete a series sweep. "Theyve given me the green light a few times this year and it just hasnt really worked out the way it did today," said Norris, who drove in a career-high six runs. "Everyone knows (Gonzalez) has good stuff and you have to get on him early. It just happened to work out a little bit better than it initially was planned out to be, not once but twice." Both of Norris home runs came on identical two-out pitches from Gonzalez, who pitched four seasons in Oakland. The two players were part of a 2011 trade between the teams. In the lineup because of a left-hander on the mound, Norris blasted a 3-0 pitch from Gonzalez over the wall in left with two outs in the first. Oakland led 4-0 when Norris came up in the second, again with two runners on. Gonzalez (3-3) ran the count to 3-0 before Norris hammered the ball down the left field line for his fourth home run this season. "They had the same feel to them, same swing," As manager Bob Melvin said. "Obviously the two swings of the bat put the game in completely different context. He has that ability." Its the first multi-homer game of Norris career. The six RBIs are tied for the most by an Athletics catcher since 1914. That it came on Mothers Day and against his former team made it more memorable for Norris. "It was one of those special days," Norris said. "Ive never hit two home runs in a game. It still feels surreal." Nick Punto added two hits and three RBIs while Brandon Moss singled twice and doubled. Oakland has won four straight since dropping five of six against Boston and Seattle. Kazmir (5-1) bounced back from his first loss of the year to pitch seven scoreless innings while allowing only four hits. He struck out four and didnt walk a batter for the fourth time this season. Thhe As completed their majors-leading fourth series sweep with another blowout of the Nationals. JK Scott Jersey. Oakland, which shut out Washington in the series opener, outscored Washington 21-4. Punto added an RBI single in the first and a two-run double in the seventh. It was a rough return to the Coliseum for Gonzalez, who pitched for the As for four years and was making his first start against his former club. Washingtons left-hander laboured through 4 1-3 innings and gave up seven runs and nine hits. He struck out four and walked three in his worst outing in Oakland since giving up 11 earned runs to Minnesota on July 20, 2009. Gonzalez was also caught on TV yelling at a teammate in Washingtons dugout after the second. Earlier in the inning, the Nationals allowed a high pop-up by Yoenis Cespedes to fall to the turf and roll foul. Cespedes eventually walked before the next batter, Norris, hit his second two-out home run of the day. "Just couldnt find the strike zone," Gonzalez said. "Mistake pitches, left them up in the zone and good hitters made contact." Kazmir and the As bullpen did the rest. Joe Savery pitched the eighth and Jim Johnson worked the ninth to complete the seven-hitter. Before the game, Washington placed first baseman Adam LaRoche on the disabled list with a right quad strain. LaRoche, who has five home runs and 21 RBIs, joins Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and outfielder Bryce Harper on the DL. Without its top three hitters, Washington did little offensively. Kazmir retired the side in order five times in the first six innings, and the Nationals were on the verge of being shut out for the second time in three days until Zach Walters RBI single off Johnson with two outs in the ninth. NOTES: The Nationals swept a three-game series from Oakland at home in 2005, the only other time the two teams have faced one another. ... Washington called up 1B Tyler Moore from Triple-A Syracuse to replace LaRoche. Moore batted seventh and went 0-for-3. ... RHP Jordan Zimmerman (2-1) carries a 2.92 ERA into his start Monday at Arizona. ... Oakland RHP Jesse Chavez (2-1) pitches the opener against the White Sox and has allowed one earned run or fewer in five of his seven starts. Youth NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Throwback Jerseys Disocunt Football Jerseys China Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale NFL Gear Cheap Jerseys ' ' '